Planned US Marshals Museum in Fort Smith gets $1M donation

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — The under-construction U.S. Marshals Museum in Arkansas has received a $1 million donation after voters last month refused to earmark public funds to help complete the project.

Museum officials on Thursday announced the donation from northwest Arkansas real estate developer and philanthropist Laurice A. Hachem. She’s president of Hachem Investments.

Fort Smith voters on March 12 rejected a temporary sales tax increase to help pay for the privately run museum honoring the law enforcement agency and those who served. Supporters projected the 1% sales tax hike would have raised more than $15 million to finish the project.

The 50,000-square-foot (4,700-square-meter) is being built on banks of the Arkansas River at Fort Smith, a city of about 88,000 located near the border with Oklahoma.

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